When the Girls State Basketball Tournament tipped off in Lincoln, it was the official start of March Madness in Nebraska. It’s one of the best, buzzer-beating times of the year. For all the champions that will be crowned this month, we know that those winners spent years practicing and competing for an opportunity to earn a trophy. We also know that many more ended their season in defeat. But through it all (and this is why youth sports are awesome) our kids are learning life-long lessons.

This August, I visited the city of North Platte for a tour with North Platte’s chamber office. North Platte is known for many things, and chief among them are its status as a railroad town and the home of Buffalo Bill. As we drove through the city, I saw its industrial area and new housing subdivisions. As the tour continued, we came across the Downtown Canteen District, a title that holds special meaning for people across our state.

Nebraska 4-H offers several project areas for youth ages 5-18. Every county fair boasts their 4-H livestock shows. Baked goods, wood working, and creative projects abound in the static exhibit hall. One often overlooked 4-H project is citizenship. Citizenship is precious and should never be taken for granted. The 4-H Citizenship project seeks to celebrate patriotism, to serve throughout the community, understand our unique cultures and appreciate history. Expressions of citizenship begin locally and build to national pride.

When businesses support working parents, they’re not just boosting their bottom line – they’re helping prevent child abuse and neglect. In South Dakota, 72.5% of all children under age six have all available parents in the workforce, making family-friendly workplace policies crucial for our state’s families.

By: Matt Spangler, Professor and Beef Genetics Extension Specialist Spring bull buying season is near. The question that all potential bull (and semen) buyers need to ask is, “What do I need?” The operative word is need, not to be confused with want. To objectively answer the question, producers need to know how their herd currently performs. This includes, but is not limited to:

Recently, devastating wildfires swept Southern California. And flash flooding swamped parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. Some areas of North Carolina, Florida, and other southern states are still rebuilding from the overwhelming damage of Hurricane Helene. Nebraska is no stranger to natural disasters either. From the devastating flooding that caused so much damage in 2019, to the tornadoes that ripped through Omaha area last year, to wildfires that scourge our farmland and ranchland, our state has endured the worst that weather could throw at us.

There is an inscription above an entrance to the Nebraska State Capitol. It reads: “the salvation of the state is watchfulness in the citizen.” Transparency is essential to watchfulness. Our $36 trillion national debt is our greatest domestic threat. We must do all we can to eliminate waste and restore fiscal sanity. This week, I introduced the Improper Payments Transparency Act. My bipartisan bill will require more transparent and more accurate data about the scope of improper payments made by the federal government.

The last four years of the Biden administration failed the American people. Under Biden’s watch, millions of illegal aliens flooded our border. His appeasement-first foreign policy emboldened our adversaries. Biden made our country less safe. Reckless spending and burdensome regulations caused a 20% increase in consumer prices. Americans elected President Trump to secure the border, restore American strength, and unleash American energy.

Across America, 1.3 million people live in nursing homes— including almost 10,000 of our fellow Nebraskans. Many of us have parents, grandparents, or other loved ones who rely on these homes for care and community in their golden years. We understand just how vital nursing homes are, in urban, suburban, and rural areas alike, to help seniors around our country thrive.

Last week was a hurried and long week on the road, much of it spent at the CHI Health Center in Omaha covering the State Wrestling Tournaments. Yes, for the first time, that was plural. The Nebraska School Activities Association typically does a tremendous job hosting its championship events. What we often take for granted is that in Nebraska, we bring athletes from all school sizes together for one championship event. They’re not all competing against each other, but they’re all competing in the same place. That is not the norm in other states, but I cherish that it’s the way we do things in the Cornhusker State. First, bravo to the NSAA for how they’ve handled the girls wrestling championships, not just this year, but over these first four years. Was squeezing it in with the boys always convenient? No. But I do believe it fasttracked the growth the sport made in just a few years. The wrestling championships was a five-day event this year and girls received their own standalone event over two days on Tuesday and Wednesday.